Steve Rothman: “last week, during consideration of the State Department reauthorization bill in the House International Relations…”

“last week, during consideration of the State Department reauthorization bill in the House International Relations Committee, I rose with Congressman Menendez to present an amendment to that bill. Its purpose was to ban the further training of members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary by the FBI at their National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. There were many reasons why we introduced that amendment, but one of the most compelling was the suspicion of RUC complicity in the assassination of Rosemary Nelson. Accusations of RUC support for the murder of Catholic leaders abounds. Rosemary Nelson appeared before the International Relations Committee and testified that she had received death threats from members of the RUC. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers has found that the RUC is engaged "in activities which constitute intimidation, harassment, [and] hindrance" of defense lawyers [in Northern Ireland] in the course of their professional duties. He also labeled the RUC's intimidation of defense lawyers in Northern Ireland as, and I quote, "consistent and systematic." This is not acceptable. There must be an independent investigation into the murder of Rosemary Nelson to determine who is responsible. Those who are responsible must be brought to justice. If members of the RUC are confirmed to have been involved, the RUC should be disbanded and a new police force created.”